My experiences with 375's are different. While much younger I became enamored with the 375 and used a Browning Safari and a pre-64 M70 extensively on deer with various factory loads, and they always ran off unless the shoulder joint was busted up or with similar major skeletal damage. All were found totally dead, sometimes close by and at other times far away. Usually they showed no immediate sign of a hit. One buck I well remember was shot with a 270 grain Power Point on snow, and after tracking across a thick huckleberry swamp loaded with other deer tracks and finally seeing ONE DROP of blood, I found the buck piled up against a tree, stone dead. It was tough sorting thru all the tracks and I'd almost convinced myself it was a miss, as the buck was running when I fired.
If I were using a 375 again for deer in woodlands I'd be loading a pistol bullet as Rich has written about. I'd rather have the animal drop quickly than to minimize meat damage. Again, this is just a personal commentary based on shots with the caliber and period factory loads on whitetails in PA, NY and on Anticosti Island.
Yup Rich, the pre-64 Winchester 70's are the Parkers and Foxes of sporting rifles. So are Model 71's. Classic 1903 Springfield sporters are pretty cool too.
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